"HiTEC 051 - New Hazlett Theater": HiTEC (Histrionic Thought Experiment Cooperative) was originally proposed as "Sonic Aughts Union" by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE after a May 2008 gig in the Carnegie Public Library Oakland branch with separate sets by t,ac; Margaret Cox; Rick Gribenas; & Steve Boyle. The name was a take-off on the Sonic Arts Union, a group that t,ac admired. The original SAU had 4 main members who only did solo pieces & never collaborated with each other. This struck t,ac as a short-coming that he hoped to correct in this 2nd SAU. When "Sonic Aughts Union" failed to materialize as cONVENIENCE originally imagined, it transformed into HiTEC & into more orchestral dimensions. Its 1st rehearsal was on July 14, 2008. In an attempt to document every rehearsal, mini-dv was shot, sometimes w/ 2 cameras, sometimes w/ the camera(s) only on (a) tripod(s), sometimes w/ camera operators - & explanatory titles have been added. The numbers in the title represent the number of the session/rehearsal & the letters represent the sub-group of HiTEC that was rehearsing. There were as many as 3 sessions/rehearsals a week, tENT was the person conducting all of those (with 3 exceptions) & tENT asked that all "Systems Managers", as the players were called, rehearse at least 8 times before being considered ready for public performance - which amounted to, roughly, one rehearsal every 2 weeks. Some of the Systems Managers seemed to consider themselves 'too good' to have to rehearse so much. They were wrong. Many people came & went, auditioning with us only once & then deciding it wasn't for them. Originally, tENT had wanted to have dancers but the people who initially tried to participate as such didn't like it. It was probably too conceptual for them. HiTEC, at its peak, had 22 members although all 22 never played at once. The highest amount ever playing together was 21 at our 2nd gig.
This 51st incarnation was the 1st public 'full' group presentation & consisted of: tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE: piano, SysMan, electronics, percussion, spinner, editing, etc..; Tony Balko: camcorder; Ben Opie - reeds, electronics; Kenny Haney: clarinets, balloons ; Spat Cannon: upright acoustic bass; Dani Simmonds: banjo-uke; Roger Dannenberg: trumpet, flugelhorn, piccolo trumpet; Missi St Pierre: toy piano w/ effects; Julian Krishnamurti: electric bass; Johan Nystrom: extended percussion; Kerrith Livengood: alto flute; Ben Harris: violin; Jonathan Brodsky: monome with mabalhabla software; Mike Tamburo: hammered dulcimer; Unfinished Symphonies: electronic keyboard; Joy: electric guitar w/ nylon strings; William Wedler: Experiment 1; Erok: trombone; Stuart Anderson: laptop; James Gyre: drums — the largest gathering of HiTEC Systems Managers yet: 20! This performance was made possible by the director of the New Hazlett, Sara Radelet, who had previously witnessed & supported a performance of tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE's called "CircumSubstantial Playing & Blindfolded Tourism" that had been supported by the Mattress Factory when she'd been a curator (or some such) there. There were 3 non-Systems-Management moving camera people there in addition to Tony Balko's Systems Management camerawork: Blissy Ann Higgs, Bill Daniel, Ashley Brickmanwhatever moment the Systems Managers were at. The New Hazlett provided a HiDef static camera set a good enough distance back to show the complete stage. Alas, this was slightly out-of-focus the whole time. I remember there being a total of 8 cameras. Roger placed, at tENT's request, an overhead camera in the catwalks pointing down. There must've been 2 other static camcorders. All work not otherwise credited (except for that done by New Hazlett Theater personnel) was probably done by tENT — such as all of the graphics work. Thanks to the good publicity work of the New Hazlett staff, there was an audience of 120 people even though it was snowing outside. For anyone who's witnessed a sampling of the rehearsals that led up to this moment, it might be astonishing that this all pulls together as 'perfectly' as it does. Inspired by the Beatles supposedly having women & girls in their audiences throw their panties on stage in a gesture of sexual abandon, tENT had plants in the (v)audience (both make & female) throw their underwear on stage as if HiTEC were inspiring lust. In the crowd are people that wouldn't be likely to ever attend another event of tENT's again but they seemed to enjoy this one. High production values help. Joy refused to wear an Affinity Group towel & Missi cut hers down to a small triangular bib. tENT believes that this was the greatest UNCERT (Uncertainty Concert) of ALL TIME! This movie was published as part of the HiTEC Systems Management book published by Encyclopedia Destructica.
- May 1, 2019 notes from tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE
